In a recent episode of B2B Outbound, hosts Chris and James sat down with Adam Sockel, Content Marketing Lead at Orum, to discuss the state of cold calling in 2024. Despite claims to the contrary, cold calling is very much alive and remains a crucial part of the sales process.
Cold calling still works. Like, really well.
Adam and the Orum crew aren’t just pushing buttons on a fancy dialer. Nope, they’re changing how we think about cold calling in the age of LinkedIn voice messages and AI-generated everything. This isn’t some wild theory cooked up by a guru who hasn’t picked up a phone since the ’90s. It’s data-driven, real-world stuff that’s filling pipelines as we speak.
Adam drops this truth bomb: “The majority of all sales pipeline in 2023 is coming from the phone, and the numbers have only increased. Over 10 million calls are made per month on our platform.”
Instead of writing off cold calling as a relic, embrace its evolution. Adam breaks it down: “Now, instead of taking eight hours to make 75 calls and maybe have two conversations, you can use Orum to make 150 calls in an hour and you can have 10-12 conversations and you can book your meetings.”
The Parallel Dialling Dance
Here’s where it gets spicy. Orum’s not just automating dialling; they’re multiplying your reach with parallel dialling. It’s like being a cold calling octopus, but less slimy and more effective.
Adam’s all in on this approach: “Parallel dialling lets you basically multiply the amount of numbers you’re dialling at the same time. On Orum, you can dial anywhere from two to 10 numbers at the same time.”
This strategy is pure gold for a few reasons:
- It turbocharges your productivity (goodbye, manual dialling nightmares).
- It gets you through those low-pickup rate lists faster than a caffeinated cheetah.
- It still lets you have genuine, human conversations when someone picks up.
Cold Calling’s High-Tech Makeover
So now to the question everyone is asking: “Will AI replace cold calling? Not anytime soon. First off, robocalling is illegal in the US, so you literally can’t replace cold calling right now. But no, I will couch my answer by saying not in the next five to eight years, maybe in 10 years.”
He continues, “I think cold calling is going to become even more valuable as kind of like one of the last true human-centric aspects of the sales process.”
The Phone Tree Slayer
Adam drops this gem about Orum’s AI capabilities: “It navigates the phone trees so if you are calling into an office, it understands which person you’re trying to actually get a hold of.”
The takeaway? Let the robots handle the boring stuff so you can focus on what really matters – having killer conversations with prospects.
The Cold, Hard Truth About Cold Calling
Now, brace yourselves for some tough love. In a world of LinkedIn InMails, personalized videos, and probably soon, holographic SDR avatars (patent pending), guess what still works best?
James lays it out: “Probably 90% of our meetings booked come over the phone. That’s where we really understand the challenges, the pain points, having proper conversations and actually generating meetings.”
Why? Because picking up the phone is still the most direct way to get in someone’s ear and start building that crucial trust.
The Punch! Perspective
As the founders of a sales development agency, we couldn’t agree more. Chris chimes in: “We’ve tried so many different platforms over the years and introduced a lot of different new softwares or, you know, channels or tactics through different technology, and I would say that this one platform has had the biggest impact on the success of our SDR programs, more than any that we’ve tried.”
Adam gives us a virtual high-five: “I am not just saying this because I work at Orum. I truly believe this.”
The Last Word
Look, sales is evolving. We’ve got AI, automation, and probably soon, telepathic lead scoring. But at its core, sales is still about human beings connecting with other human beings.
So, the next time someone tells you cold calling is dead, remember: It’s not dead, it’s just wearing a fancy new suit. A suit made of AI, parallel dialling, and sweet, sweet efficiency gains.
